Castle of Our Skins Wind Ensemble debuts world premiere Brian Raphael Nabors composition

Celina Colby

Celina Colby is an arts and travel reporter with a fondness for Russian novels.... VIEW BIO

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This weekend Castle of our Skins Wind Ensemble will debut the world premiere of “Sketches from the Movement,” a new quintet composition by Brian Raphael Nabors during a free, community-based concert in Jamaica Plain.

The concert is part of the Celebrity Series of Boston Solo(s) Together project, an initiative born during the pandemic that matches composers with Boston-based ensembles with the specific guidelines that compositions should feature a solo for each musician as well as group performance.

Nabors has worked with Castle of Our Skins before, including as their first external composer in residence in 2019, but this composition differs slightly from their past collaborations.

Composer Brian Raphael Nabors PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

“This creates an opportunity for composers to get real creative about the idea behind, not only sort of isolating things in terms of the instrumentation, but to think about how you can create different pathways for emotional connection and togetherness by having a culminating movement at the end,” said Nabors.

Nabors, a Birmingham, Alabama, native, drew inspiration from the Civil Rights movement. Each section of the composition draws on a different protest song or freedom song. After the five solos, the group comes together to perform “We Shall Overcome.” The name “Sketches from the Movement” refers to the Civil Rights movement but also serves as a clever allusion to the sections of a musical composition, called movements.

The accessibility of concerts like this one is crucial to bringing music to all. 

“We have the opportunity to touch people of all ages, colors and creeds,” said Nabors.  “When you have young people who are going to be our next generation of musicians, they might be inspired by hearing something of ours in a way that they may have not had access to if we didn’t try to have ways of connecting the community.”

In addition to Nabors’ composition, the ensemble will perform works by Damien Geter, Mason Bynes, Carlos Simon and Fred Onovwerosuoke. The pieces range from spirituals to cowboy-style Americana melodies.

Hear the world premiere performance of “Sketches from the Movement,” and other works performed by the Castle of Our Skins woodwind ensemble March 1 at Bethel AME Church at 100 Wachusetts St. in Jamaica Plain. The performance is free and open to the public.

Castle of Our Skins is a Boston-based organization that centers Black arts, history and culture through events, musical compositions and performances and artistic collaborations. It highlights the past and present work of Black musicians and artists and other marginalized identities. Ashleigh Gordon, co-founder, artistic, executive director and violist of Castle of our Skins, says that work is more vital than ever.

“Given the political climate that we’re in where, through sheer force and over-exertion of power, there’s an attempt to silence. This particular program continues to remind us of voices and narratives that are really important.”